<앵kor>

Ten years ago, in 2016, Kumamoto Prefecture was struck by two massive earthquakes exceeding magnitude 7 within a span of two days, claiming the lives of about 270 people. Japanese authorities have once again warned that another major earthquake could occur within a week. This time, extreme heatwaves are compounding the situation, raising concerns over large-scale damage to evacuees.

Reporter Kim Young-a has the story.

[Reporter]

Roads are shattered as if sliced by a knife, and mountainsides that collapsed have turned into sheer cliffs.

On April 14, 2016, a magnitude 6.5 strong earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture.

Then, 28 hours later, an even more powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit again.

Due to the two strong earthquakes that occurred within two days, more than 200,000 houses were damaged, and old wooden houses were completely destroyed beyond recognition.

The Japanese government is warning once again that there is a high possibility of an even stronger earthquake within a week.

In particular, it predicted that the next two to three days will be the most critical period.

Awakening the nightmares of 10 years ago, many residents have fled outdoors to spend their time on the streets or in cars.

[Earthquake Victim: Strong aftershocks keep continuing, so we simply cannot go inside. That is why everyone has been sleeping in their cars all night.]

The problem is the unprecedented heatwave.

During the consecutive earthquakes in 2016, a total of around 270 people died in Kumamoto Prefecture, of which about 50 were direct deaths caused by the earthquake.

A significant portion of the remaining more than 200 victims were chronic patients who died of pulmonary thromboembolism while living in cars out of fear of aftershocks, or those who could not receive treatment because hospitals were paralyzed by power outages and water supply disruptions.

Viral diseases also spread in poor shelter conditions.

[Takaichi / Prime Minister of Japan: Starting last night, we have also been proactively providing equipment such as air conditioners and mobile generators to evacuation shelters.]

Kumamoto Prefecture saw temperatures reach a high of 35°C (95°F) today (July 29), and with temperatures forecasted to soar up to 40°C (104°F) early next week, a heatstroke alert has been issued.

The compounding heatwave is driving evacuees into an even greater threat than 10 years ago.

(Video Editing: Kim Byung-jik)